Saturday, October 22, 2011

Counting the Hours to Christmas!

We're counting down the hours to Sunday'sAnnual Christmas Party at Art 'n Soul. It's so exciting to think about the new stamps and new sample cards that will be unveiled Sunday afternoon. The staff has been working tirelessly 'round the clock to show off these new works of art to inspire you.

It rained on parts of the island today and when we drove into Honolulu for a Crafts Fair at the end of the afternoon, we saw two rainbows side-by-side. Unfortunately, the photos do not show the brilliance of the colors. Fortunately, the traffic was bumper-to-bumper slow and I could take the time to snap the pics out my driver's seat window.

By the way, the Crafts Fair was not at all what we expected. If we could have moved Art 'n Soul temporarily to the Fair, we would have blown away the competition!

Checking in on the Graphic 45 blog today, I couldn't believe what I saw. I was blown away . . . I think you will be too when you see all of her amazing work featuring the various paper collections fromGraphic 45.

Oct 21, 2011 5:00:00 AM

Pages of Beauty: Introducing Susie McGuire of Creative Cafe

Hello Crafters,

Happy Friday and welcome to a very special edition of the Graphic 45 blog. Today we're featuring the work of Susie McGuire, a very talented crafter! Today you'll see some examples of Susie's remarkable talents and get to know a little bit about what inspires her to create such dazzling works of art!

And now it's off to the enchanting land of Suzie McGuire from the blog Creative Cafe'. As you will see, Susie's talents are astounding. Residing in South Central Missouri, she has an extraordinary knack for creating gorgeously detailed mini albums that perfectly capture the essence of each individual paper collection. She has a unique eye for making each project come to life. Every page of her mini albums have their own clever personality and she obviously takes great time and care with every stunning detail. If you check out her blog (which we strongly recommend you do) you'll find a world of inspiration. Not only does Susie love to create for herself and the ones she loves, but she also loves to share her creations with her crafting community. Her blog is full of terrific videos, loads of photos, tutorials and sweet descriptions about each wonderful piece. Truly, Susie is a crafter who adores what she does and it's obvious when you look at the quality of her work. Below you will find some amazing examples of her Graphic 45 crafts. We are happy to introduce you to the amazing Susie McGuire of Creative Cafe'!

"I have always enjoyed doing various crafts and only started scrapbooking about 11 years ago when my daughter was in grade school. Back then I used what I would call BLAH paper (it was just that) and a lot of stickers to embellish with. I didn’t know that such beautiful projects could be made from scrapbook paper until I purchased my first paper crafting magazine. I saw a paper bag mini album that was absolutely gorgeous and thought to myself, "I can do that." I started out doing paper bag minis and now I do mini albums out of anything I can find to alter. I got my first glimpse of Graphic 45 about 4 years ago at a scrapbook store that I stumbled on when my husband and I were traveling. The papers caught my eye immediately. I love anything old and vintage. Graphic 45 gives me that. It has become my favorite line of paper to work with. I like to keep my mini albums simple, so most of the time I don‘t use a lot of flowers, bling or embellishments. I think the paper should speak for itself. Once again Graphic 45 that does exactly that. I enjoy sharing my projects with others and I love to do tutorials for those wanting to know “now just how did you do that?” I believe we all have a creative side and sometimes I think we give up a little too quickly. If you will stay with it, your creativity will come shinning through." -Susie McGuire

Here is one of Suzie's astonishing Magic of Oz mini albums. It's so pretty and full of lots of love!

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Check out this amazing Hallowe'en in Wonderland purse that's also a mini album! How clever is this?! It's also so beautifully decorated! It is such an eye-catching piece! So unique!

"This album was made using Graphic 45's new paper collection "An ABC Primer" and 9 x 6 catalog envelopes. On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the greatest) of the most fun mini's I've ever made, this one is a 10+ ! I didn't think I would like this particular paper collection, but since Graphic 45 is my FAVORITE paper line, I decided to buy it anyway. Sooooooo glad I did! This is now my all time favorite album to date. I used some of my left over cork board in this album, I think it incorporated nicely with this theme." -Susie

Here is a beautiful Christmas Emporium mini album that is just perfect for the holiday season!

Next we have this exquisite Once Upon a Springtime mini album by Susie. Each page overflows with a whimsical beauty all its own!

Here is Susie's ultra classy Curtain Call mini album! The contrasting colors of black, cream and vibrant red looks so amazing in this show-stopping mini! Plus all the beautiful lace and trim help give this mini that unmistakable look of pure vintage elegance.

Here is one of Susie's sweet Deluxe Edition Christmas Past mini albums. Here again you can see her amazing eye for creating beautiful dimensions and layers. This mini is like taking a journey through a winter wonderland of craft bliss!

Next up is this festive altered wooden cigar box and printer's tray that contains a beautiful Christmas Emporium mini album! It's an altered art piece and mini album combined into one! It's just amazing!

"The mini album was made with the G45 Black Policy album and on the inside I have used one G45 chipboard button for each flap. I have 4 categories: Traditions, Dinner Menu, Guest List and Gifts.

There is a journaling tag in each pocket and a place for one picture on the following page." -Susie

We want to say a huge thank you to Susie McGuire of Creative Cafe! It was an absolute pleasure to feature her work today!

From theMemory Boxblog . . .Memory Boxwill be one of our 'open catalog' companies at Sunday's Christmas Party. Perhaps these two card ideas will inspire you to fill out a'Memory Box'pink sheet!

10/20/2011

To "Die" For

Happy Thursday! Is anyone else as ready for Friday as I am?

Today's card is all about using dies instead of stamping. I just love all of the new dies that Memory Box has for the holidays. I used the Charlotte Border (98242) on either side of the ornament. It really makes a great lace accent. For the center of the card, I cut out a solid ornament using the Classic Ornament die (98211) and then cut out the Snowflake Ornament (98231) to act as a lacy overlay for the solid ornament. To accent the piece, I added some diamond jewels and a white ribbon and bow.

10/19/2011

Music and Bird

The new Memory Box Distressed Jingle Bells stamp (G1827) really makes a great background stamp. For this card, I stamped it twice using Spanish Moss Versafine ink to get a full sheet of paper. I then edged it with some Tea Dye Distress ink.

For the focal image, I stamped the Winter Collage Background (G1830) onto white paper using black Versafine ink. I edged it with more Tea Dye ink and then colored the piece with watercolor pencils and a Dove blender pen.

To finish the card, I added a green ribbon and layered everything onto some Sweetcorn cardstock and a Dill notecard.